Latex foam or the like sponge rubber pillow



March 7, 1950 W, A, M|| ER 2,499,965

LATEX FOAM 0R THE LIKE SiONGE RUBBER PILLOW Filed July 28. 1948 Patented Mar. 7, 1950 LATEX FOAM OR THE LIKE SPONGE RUBBER PILLOW Wilbur A. Miller, Dover, Del., assignor to International Latex Corporation, Dover, Del., a corporation of Delaware Application July 28, 1948, Serial No. 41,077

1o claims. l

This invention relates to latex foam and the like sponge rubber pillows, especially suitable for supporting the head while sleeping or reclining.

It is well known that down or ne feather pillows have the desirable feature of softness and ready conformability to the downward pressure exerted by the users head or the lateral pressure exerted by the users shoulder. VThe down and better grade feather pillows while sufliciently soft nevertheless have certain disadvantages, i. e. they tend to pack or become thinner and hard when subjected to weight and are specially objectionable after long use due to the liberation of small dusty particles and absorption of perspiration and other extraneous matter, and require professional cleaning.

Numerous attempts have been made to produce a satisfactory sponge rubber pillow, kbut these have failed to provide the desired softness and ability to readily conform while presenting sufcient body structure to return to the normal shape and size after use, or when released from pressure. Despite the fact that there has long been a practice in' the art to make mattresses, chair cushions, upholstered furniture and automobile seats from latex foam and other sponge rubber; I have found such structures lacking in the desired qualities for sleeping pillows and so far as I know no one has succeeded in producing a. satisfactory pillow from latex foam or the like sponge rubber.

An object of the present invention is to provide a pillow having substantially the softness and conformability of a down or good grade feather pillow but free of the objections above indicated.

Another object is to provide a pillow comprised of foam latex so constructed and arranged that it is extremely soft and yieldable while providing suicient strength for durability and maintaining its general shape. Y

The invention consists in the novel features of construction, arrangement, and combination of parts embodied, by way of example, in the device hereinafter described as illustrating a present preferred form of the invention, and the invention will be more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

2 which the same reference characters indicate the same parts in the various views:

Fig. l is a plan view of a presently preferred form of the invention with certain parts broken away to show the interior details.

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional View taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, the entire pillow is designated as I and the present embodiment comprises a body 2 and a fabric cover or casing 3 which snugly t's and somewhat restrains the pillow laterally. The body 2 is comprised entirely of moldedlatex foam and comprises an upper section 4 and a lower section 4 which are joined together on a plane designated in Fig. 2 as A--B and in Fig. 3 as C-D. vThis plane is preferably disposed midway between the upper and lower faces of the pillow.

The pillow is substantially rectangular in plan view with rounded corners. In plan view as well as in end elevation and side elevation, the pillow has a peripherally continuous shell; but for purposes of convenience this shell will be defined by reference to an upper wall and a lower wall and the intervening shell portion around the pillow edge, where the upper and lower walls are interconnected, will be referred to as the peripheral wall. In side elevation the upper and lower walls are preferably flat throughout the major portion of their length (Fig. 3) and are slightly rounded at their ends to gradually merge into a peripheral wall; while in end elevation the pillow gradually tapers in decreasing thickness from an intermediate zone and to a slight degree toward the opposite sides of the pillow where the upper and lower walls are slightly rounded tol gradually merge into the peripheral wall. The peripheral wall is preferably vertical intermediate the rounded portions in order to permit a relatively thin shell or wall to retain the pillow in the desired shape while providing desired flexibility or softness.

The upper section 4 comprises a shell 5 which is i continuous throughout the upper wall of the ing web system. I term the web 8 a reticulated web because the web in plan view is arranged in a net-like recticulated pattern, the cavities 1 corresponding to the interstices. The cavities throughout the major area of the pillow, such as a cavity l, are preferably cylindrical in shape and are arranged in a plurality of series; the cavities of respective series being in alignment and alternate series being oiset in a longitudinal direction so that the cavities of one series are spaced opposite the web portions intervening' between the cavities of the adjacent series, as will beA clearly seen in Fig. 1 where the dotted lines designate the cavities of the upper section. The web portions between any two respectively contiguous cavities are relatively thin, as at zones such as IIJ (analogous to the lines of a net) and the web portions between each three contiguous cavities are relatively thick, as at zones such as Il, thusl forming the junctures of the web portion I (analogous to the intersections or knots of the lines of a net), herein for convenience called the reticulated junctures of the web. It is especially noted that in the preferred embodiment with the disclosed arrangement of curvilinear cavities the reticulated web system has no sharp corners but is deiined by gradual curves, thereby avoiding localized stresses. This web pattern provides a web thickness gradually increasing from a minimum thickness at the centers of zones I0 to a maximum thickness at the centers of zones I I.

The cavities are approximately are approximately 2" in diameter and spaced apart at their diameters to provide a web thickness at zones I0 of the order of Disposed in general around the central area defined by the cavities 1 is a series of smaller cavities such as 8 spaced from the larger cavities and from the adjacent peripheral wall of the section to thereby provide desired resiliency while retaining suicient structure to maintain the shape of the pillow, as by the spaced web portions such as 6a (Fig. 1). It will be seen by referring to Fig. 1 that certain of these smaller cavities, such as 8, are disposed one at each end of alternate series of cavities. With the arrangement above described it will be noted that the cavities are spaced apart uniformly in each longitudinally extending series and in intersecting diagonal directions. The cavities of respectively contiguous longitudinal series are tangent to a common plane in the present embodiment, as will best be seen in Fig. 2.

The lower section 4 is identical with the upper section 4 and comprises a shell 5' and a reticulated web designated generally as 6', dening or A providing a multiplicity of cavities such as 1' and 8'; but the lower section 4' is angularly displaced in a plane intermediate the upper and lower walls (e. g., as defined by the lines A-Band C-D, Figs. 2 and 3) 180 relative to the upper section 4 so as to bring the cavities of the upper and lower sections out of alignment and correspondingly cause the two systems of reticulated webs to be disposed non-symmetrically. As will better be seen from the sectional views and the broken away section of Fig. 1, the webs 6 of the upper section are disposed partly across the webs 6 of the lower section and partly across the cavities 1' of the lower section and vice versa to thereby provide a cross web engagement. The abutting inner faces of the shells and 5 of the respective sections are united, as by latex adhesive, so. as to provide a continuous shell casing, and the reticulated webs are adhesively secured together 4 at spaced points of crossing. all at the intermediate plne.

I have found that with this arrangement the webs are placed in tension for a Substantial distance each side of the point of crossing and under compression at the point of crossing only. The highly satisfactory functioning of the device is attributed to the further fact that the heavier web sections at the reticulated web junctures are not in vertical alignment and hence the compressive resistance is reduced and additionally the thinner intervening web portions by being disposed over the cavities of the respectively opposite body section further enhance the resiliency under compression. This results in a ilexible structure utilizing a relatively small amount of material and providing a maximum shape-retaining structure. Extensive tests have shown that a pillow made in accordance with this invention is substantially as soft as a down pillow while possessing the added advantages of immediately returning to its normal shape when pressure is removed. -Likewise a pillow in accordance with this invention is relatively light, is well ventilated and is readily cleaned by washing like a sponge in soapy water.

By making the cavity pattern as above described I have made it possible to use the same mold for both sections and thereby greatly facilitate production and reduce the cost of being able to utilize a universal section for any given size of pillow while still embodying the non-symmetrical cooperation of the two web systems.

As will be obvious from the foregoing, the two shells 5 and 5' provide upper and lower walls respectively having peripheral margins which extend toward each other and meet at the intermediate plane to jointly close the space between the upper and lower walls at the peripheral edge of the pillow; and that within the enclosure thus formed are disposed the two reticulated web systems 6 and 6 having a cross web arrangement whereby web portions adjacent the points of crossing are placed in tension when a compressive force is 'applied to the pillow in a direction from top to bottom.

Having thus described my invention with particularity with reference to its presently preferred form, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art, after understanding my invention, that other changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention, and I aim in the appended claims to cover such changes and modifications as are within the scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. A latex foam or the like sponge rubber pillow comprising a continuous shell defining and constituting a continuous peripheral wall and top and bottom walls interconnected by said peripheral wall, and two systems of recticulated webs unitarily integral with respective top and bottom walls and their corresponding peripheral wall portions, said recticulated web systems being staggered laterally one with respect to the other to thereby provide cross web engagement along a plane disposed intermediate said top and bottom walls, said webs extending in a direction generally normal to said top and bottom walls.

2. A latex lfoam or the like sponge rubber pillow comprising a continuous shell defining and constituting a continuous peripheral wall and top and bottom walls interconnected by said peripheral wall, and two systems of reticulated webs unitarily integral with respective top and bottom Walls and their corresponding peripheral wall portions, said reticulated web systems being staggered laterally one with respect to the other to thereby provide cross web engagement along a plane disposed intermediate said top and bottom walls, said webs extending in a direction generally normal to said top and bottom faces, said web systems each having cavities of substantially uniform size spaced uniformly throughout the major central area of said pillow and a series of substantially smaller border cavities disposed adjacent the peripheral wall of said pillow and spaced from said larger cavities to thereby provide a double web arrangement of increased strength at the marginal border of said pillow.

3. A-latex foam or the like sponge rubber pillow body comprising an upper section and a lower section, said sections being secured together and comprising continuous shell portions providing their peripheral walls and respective upper and lower walls and reticulated webs extending inwardly from said upper and lower walls respectively and terminating in complementary inner faces disposed in abutting engagement on a plane intermediate said upper and lower walls, the reticulated web of one oi' said sections being oilset with respect to the web of the other of said sections to thereby dispose the inner face of the web of one section partly in crosswise engagement with the inner face of the web of the other section and partly over the intervening spaces, said sections being joined together at said complementary inwardly disposed faces of said crossing webs and complementary peripheral wall portions.v

4. A latex foam or the like sponge rubber pillow body comprising an upper section and an identical lower section,4 said sections being se- `cured together and comprising continuous shell portions providing their peripheral walls and respective upper and lower walls and reticulated i webs extending inwardly from said upper and lower walls respectively and terminating in complementary inner faces disposed in abutting engagement on a plane intermediate said upper and lower walls, the reticulated web of one of said sections being offset with respect to the web of the other of said sections to thereby dispose the inner face of the web of one section partly in crosswise engagement with the inner face of the web of the other section and partly over the intervening spaces, said reticulated webs having substantially cylindrical cavities arranged in a plurality of aligned series, the cavities of each series being spaced apart lengthwise of the series and the cavities of alternate series being staggered with respect to the cavities of the adjacent series, said sections being joined together at saidcomplementary inwardly disposed faces of said crossing webs and4 complementary peripheral walls portions.

5. A latex foam or the like sponge rubber pillow comprising two substantially identical halves of molded latex foam comprising respectively a top section and a bottom section secured together at their abutting inner faces, each said section comprising a unitary shell constituting an outer wall and peripheral wall of said section and a unitarily integral reticulated web system whose interstices are in the form of cavities extending vertically from the inner face of said section outwardly to said outer wall, said cavities being arranged in a pattern having a plurality of rows each comprising a series of spaced apart cavities and the cavities of each row being staggered with respect to the cavities of a respectively adjacent row, said pattern providing web portions gradually tapering from a maximum thickness at the reticulated Iiunctures to a minimum thickness intermediate said junctures; said identical sections being angularly displaced 180 one with respect to the other in a plane substantially coinciding with said abutting faces to thereby stagger the cavities of respective sections and bring said webs into crosswise relationship, the inner edges of the peripheral walls of said sections falling into aligned engagement and serving to complete the pillow.

6. A latex foam or the like sponge rubber pillow comprising two substantially identical halves of molded latex foam comprising respectively a top section and a bottom section secured together at their abutting inner faces, each said section comprising a unitary shell constituting an outer wall and a, peripheral wall of said section and an integral reticulated web system whose interstices are in the form of cylindrical cavities extending vertically from the inner face of said section outwardly to said outer wall, said cavities being arranged in a pattern to provide web portions gradually tapering from a maximum thickness at the reticulated junctures to a minimum thickness intermediate said junctures, said identical sections being anglarly'displaced 180 one with respect to the other in a plane substantially coinciding with said abutting faces, said cavities being so disposed that with said substantially identical sections so displaced the cavities of each section are staggered with respect .to the cavities of the other section and the webs section and an integral reticulated web system whose interstices are in the form of cavities eX- tending vertically from the inner face of said section outwardly to said outer wall, said cavities being arranged in a pattern to provide web portions gradually tapering from a maximum thickness at the reticulated junctures to a minimum thickness intermediate said junctures, said identical sections being angularly displaced-1809 one with respect to the other in a plane substantially coinciding with said abutting faces, said cavities being so disposed that with said substantially identical sections so displaced the cavities of each section are staggered with respect to the cavities of the other section and the webs are positioned in crosswise relationship, the inner edges of the peripheral walls of said sections falling into aligned engagement and serving to complete the pillow, and a fabric cover tightly encasing said latex foam pillow around its peripheral wall zone to thereby restrain lateral distortion of said latex foam body.

8. A latex foam or the like sponge rubber pillow comprising a continuous shell defining and constituting top and bottom walls whose peripheral margins merge to provide a continuous peripheral wall bridging the space between said top and bottom walls, and two systems of reticulated webs within said shell unitarily integral with respective top and bottom walls and their corre- 75 sponding peripheral margins, said reticulated web systems being staggered laterally one with respect to the other to thereby provide cross web engagement along a plane disposed intermediate said top and bottom walls, said webs extending in a direction generally normal to said top and bottom walls.

9. A latex foam or the like sponge rubber'pillow body comprising an upper section and a lower section, said sections being secured together and comprising continuous shell portions providing upper and lower walls having complementary inwardly extending peripheral margins and reticulated webs extending inwardly from said upper and lower walls respectively and terminating in complementary inner faces disposed in abutting engagement on a plane intermediate said upper and lower walls, the reticulated web of one of said sections being offset with respect to the web of the other of said sections to thereby dispose web portions of one section partly in crosswise engagement with the corresponding portions of the web of the other section and partly across the intervening spaces, said sections being joined together Cil at said complementary inwardly disposed faces of said crossing webs and complementary peripheral margins.

10. A latex foam or the like sponge rubber pillow comprising two substantially identical halves of molded latex foam comprising respectively a top section and a bottom section secured together at their abutting inner faces, each said section comprising a unitary shell constituting an outer wall having a peripheral margin extending in- 8 wardly to said abutting 'face of said section and a unitarily integral reticulated web system whose interstices are in the form of cavities each staggered with respect to adjacent cavities and extending vertically from the inner face of said section outwardly to said outer wail, said cavities being arranged in a pattern to provide web portions gradually tapering from a maximum thickness at reticulated junctures in said web system to a minimum thickness intermediate said junctions, said substantially identical sections being angularly displaced one with respect to the other in a plane substantially coinciding with said abutting faces to thereby stagger the cavities oi! respective sections and bring said webs into crosswise relationship, the inner edges of the peripheral margins of said sections falling into aligned engagement and serving to form a continuous shell, whereby when one of said outer walls is depressed toward the other said webs are placed in tension adjacent their points of crossing.

WILBUR A. MILLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent;

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,150,747 Naulty Mar. 14, 1939 2,295,363 Schott Sept. 8, 1942 2.315.391 Blair Mar. 30. 1943 Certificate of ACorrection Patent N o. 2,499,965 March 7, 1950 WILBUR A. MILLER It is hereby certied that errors appear in the printed specification of the above numbered partent requiring correction as follows:

Column 3, line 3, after net-like` insert or; line 32, strike out the Words are approXimately; column 8, line 18, for fform a continuous shell read complete the pillow; 1

the same may conform to the recordof the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 13th day of June, A. D. 1950.

[SEAL] THOMAS F. MURPHY,

Assistant Uommz'ssz'oncr of Patents. 

